


Love is the New Denim or Black

by lco123



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 05:42:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10713372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lco123/pseuds/lco123
Summary: Hanna pouts. “I’m not memorable?”“You are to me,” Mona says, really softly. “Maybe not to Sean. Not yet, at least.” She starts to smirk, just slightly, and Hanna knows exactly what that means.“You have a plan, don’t you?”Three times Hanna and Mona pretended to be a couple, and one time they weren't pretending.





	Love is the New Denim or Black

**Author's Note:**

> I'll get back to my other Vandermarin fic soon, but 7x11 gave me a lot of feelings about Mona and Hanna running off to New York together and building a fashion empire. Much of this is intended post-series, but based on 7x11 (so, no Haleb engagement or wedding, assuming one of those things happens before the series is over).

**1**

They’re fifteen, at some terrible party at Ben Coogan’s place. Hanna has been trying to get Sean Ackard’s attention all night, but he seems much more interested in playing foosball with Ben and Noel Kahn. 

“He doesn’t like me!” Hanna whines. She and Mona are on the couch in Ben’s living room, Hanna’s bare legs stretched across Mona’s lap. Hanna kicked off her shoes a little while ago, and Mona has already admonished her for not touching up her pedicure before they got here. Hanna would be embarrassed to be seen like this, all sprawled out on someone else’s furniture, but nearly everyone else is in the den, and the people who are still nearby aren’t paying attention to them.

Mona takes a swig out of her red solo cup. Noel mixed them some drinks earlier, and even though Hanna's been nursing hers for an hour she still feels on the precipice of sloppy drunk. Mona seems fine, though, not exactly sober but still in complete control of herself. It’s annoying.

“He totally likes you,” Mona assures her. “Guys can just be really, really stupid. He’s probably waiting for you to make the first move.”

Hanna takes another sip of her drink, wrinkling her nose at the taste. What the hell did Noel put in there? “I don’t have any moves,” she complains. “I’m move-less.”

Mona swats at her leg, hard enough to almost hurt. 

“Hey!” Hanna yelps.

“You’re selling yourself short,” Mona says sternly. “How are you ever going to get a boyfriend if you never put yourself out there?”

“I _am_ out there!” Hanna insists, gesturing at her short pink dress. “Look at me!”

Mona does, and maybe the alcohol is just making time move slower, but it seems to Hanna like Mona’s eyes linger on her body for a beat longer than necessary. “You look incredible,” Mona states. “But that’s not the point. You have to be memorable.”

Hanna pouts. “I’m not memorable?”

“You are to me,” Mona says, really softly. “Maybe not to Sean. Not _yet_ , at least.” She starts to smirk, just slightly, and Hanna knows exactly what that means.

“You have a plan, don’t you?”

Mona nods, once, and pats Hanna’s legs. “Put on your shoes, fluff your hair, and follow my lead. We’ve got a boy to snag.”

Hanna grins, forcing herself to sit up from the comfortable couch and from Mona. She does as she’s told, then trails Mona out of the living room and downstairs to the den, where the guys are. Sean doesn’t even look up when they walk in, but Mona still nudges Hanna forward, toward the foosball table.

“Do you trust me?” Mona whispers.

“Yes,” Hanna replies, immediately.

Mona must take that as her cue, because she snakes a hand around Hanna’s waist and presses their bodies flush together. “Hi Sean!” she coos, keeping her arm tightly curled around Hanna. “How’s it going?”

Sean glances up at them before looking back down, so Mona continues the charade, starting to run her fingers over Hanna’s midsection. She tips her head into the crook of Hanna’s neck, giggling loudly. “Touch me,” she mutters in Hanna’s ear, so Hanna does just that, draping her own arms around Mona’s small frame.

Not like friends hugging or keeping each other upright. Like two girls who are seconds away from making out.

“ _Dude!”_ Noel Kahn exclaims, smacking Sean’s shoulder until he starts paying attention. “I think they’re gonna lez out!”

Something in Hanna’s stomach sloshes at those words. She doesn’t like the way Noel said them, as though she and Mona are a show on display.

But Mona doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, she seems to be getting more into it, angling her face up toward Hanna’s like they’re actually going to kiss. Hanna tries to steel herself for the impact. She wonders, fleetingly, what Mona tastes like. Probably like the vanilla lip gloss she and Hanna shoplifted from the mall last week.

But Mona stops a fraction of an inch from Hanna’s lips. “That’s how you become memorable,” she whispers, then slides away so quickly it’s almost like she wasn’t there at all. Noel makes a noise of frustration, but it’s quickly followed by him urging Sean to go talk to Hanna.

Hanna stands there, her mouth completely dry, as Sean asks if she’d like another drink. She nods mutely, her eyes searching everywhere for Mona. 

Later, much later, after Emily has come out, Hanna thinks about that day and shudders. She feels awful, like one of those annoying straight girls who try on lesbianism to entice a boy but get grossed out when women flirt with them in bars.

She mentions it to Emily, years later when they’re both adults and Hanna and Caleb have broken up for what won’t be the last time. 

“Do you hate it?” Hanna asks Emily. “When girls pretend like that?” She takes a steady swig of the vodka tonic Emily mixed her, before lying back flat on the floor. She’s been staying with Emily for the weekend, needing to get out of New York in the aftermath of the breakup.

“Sometimes,” Emily replies, lying down next to Hanna. “When they’re just doing it for the guys. But I also think that for certain girls, it’s the only way for them to figure things out.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, maybe the doing it for the guys part is pretend. But the kissing part could be real.”

Hanna frowns and looks up at the ceiling. She supposes that makes sense. “Em?”

“Hmm?”

She turns her head so she can see Emily. “What do you think was true for Mona?”

Emily smiles at her, a bit sadly. “Han, where Mona was concerned? I’m pretty sure you were the only thing that was real.”

**2**

As much as Hanna loves her friends, she doesn’t feel like she can fully breathe again until she steps off the airplane back in New York. And don’t get her wrong: her love for them is huge. As wide as the galaxy. It’s the kind of love that can bring people back from the dead. They went through a war together, as far as she’s concerned. 

But still. Rosewood isn’t home anymore, and the best part of being an adult is that Rosewood never has to be home again. A—the _real_ A, the Uber one—is dead. Not Alison dead or Mona dead, but Noel Kahn’s head rolling down the stairs dead. _Dead_ dead. Which means that Hanna can finally leave.

It helps that she’s actually running toward something good, and not just away from something bad. In their last few weeks in Rosewood, Mona did the impossible, creating a legit business for Hanna out of a sketchbook and a rack of half-finished dresses. Lucas has stopped returning Hanna calls, but Hanna suspects Mona might be responsible for that too; either way, the cash keeps coming, and Hanna is too excited to question it.

Caleb is suspicious, but he’s always been that way around Mona. His suspicions increase tenfold, however, when Mona announces she’s moving to New York.

“She’s trying to undermine you, Hanna!” he insists. “How can you not see that?”

“Because it isn’t true!” Hanna replies, frustrated. She’s just gotten off the phone with Mona, who called to tell Hanna that she’s relocating. And it’s not like Hanna herself didn’t have questions, but Mona explained herself, calmly and clearly. She can still do her political work in New York, but now she and Hanna can build the business together. It’s their best shot at making it, Mona told her, and Hanna believes her.

“She’s changed!” Hanna exclaims to Caleb. “We all have. Why can’t you give her a chance? She helped us take down A.D.!”

“You’ve given her chance after chance,” Caleb says. “But she’s always lying about something.”

“You’re wrong,” Hanna states. “And you better get used to her being around, because she and I are working together now. End of discussion.”

Caleb ends up sleeping on the couch that night.

He starts working later, after their fight, and Hanna doesn’t like it, but it does give her more time to work on her sketches without feeling like she has to explain how Mona fits into everything. One evening Hanna is home alone, just considering putting her sketchbook to bed for the night, when Mona calls.

“Put on something fabulous,” Mona instructs. There’s lots of noise behind her, music and loud laughter. “I’m sending a cab to pick you up in twenty.”

“What’s going on?”

Mona doesn’t respond right away, and Hanna hears her rattling off a drink order to someone. “I’m at a party with some very important people. People who could change our lives. Right after I change theirs.” She’s quiet for another second, before saying, “Got to go! See you soon!”

“Mona!”

“Just trust me,” Mona urges. “Everything will be okay. I’ll tell the driver where to take you.”

Hanna sighs when she realizes Mona has hung up. She considers calling Caleb before deciding against it; she knows what he’ll say. And what does she really have to lose? If the party is terrible she can always go home.

Presumably.

Hanna rummages through her closet before deciding on the backless black dress she designed a few weeks ago. A new favorite. She gets dressed as quickly as possible and has just enough time to touch up her makeup before the cab is honking for her out front.

The driver has apparently been paid extra to keep quiet about where they’re going, so Hanna looks out the window curiously, not knowing what to expect or where they’ll stop. Eventually, they pull up in front of a swanky-looking apartment building that Hanna has walked by and admired dozens of times. Mona is waiting outside, and she links arms with Hanna as the doorman waves them inside.

“You look amazing,” Hanna comments, admiring Mona’s gorgeous plum Dolce & Gabbana skirt.

“Why thank you!” Mona replies as they enter the elevator. “Don’t worry, I’m still repping Hanna Marin Designs. My jacket is inside.”

“The black one with the studs?”

“The very one. C’mon.” The elevator dings at the penthouse floor and Mona leads them inside to the party. The penthouse is impeccably decorated, with lots of clean lines and open space. There’s some interesting art on the walls, but Hanna can barely see it, because there are people everywhere. 

It takes Hanna a second to realize what’s weird about this party, but then she does: as far as she can tell, everyone here is a woman. There are all types of women, some dressed up like Mona, but most dressed casually, in cutoff T-shirts and Converse. Lots of them in intimate little huddles, touching each other or holding hands.

“Mona,” Hanna whispers. “This is a lesbian party!”

Mona smirks. “Gee, what tipped you off? The authentic Gluck hanging in the foyer or the fact that most of the women in this room have at least half of their head shaved?”

“The hair thing!” Hanna replies. “And all the chicks touching each other.” She frowns. “What’s a Gluck?”

Mona rolls her eyes good-naturedly. “Never mind. Look, just follow my lead, okay?”

Hanna nods, because she doesn’t really have a choice. Mona reaches between them and takes Hanna’s hand. She starts marching them through the party that way, holding Hanna’s hand out in a kind of deliberate manner, and okay, Hanna gets what’s happening now. A tall blonde eyes them appraisingly. A celebrity chef smiles in Hanna's direction.

Hanna stops walking and tugs Mona closer to her. “Are you seriously trying to con these people into thinking we’re a couple?”

“Not people,” Mona corrects. “There’s one particular person I want you to meet. Just for tonight, Han. C’mon, where’s your sense of adventure?”

Hanna scowls. “I don’t like lying! I’ve spent enough of my life doing that!”

“Calm down,” Mona insists. “And give me two more minutes. I have a feeling I might be able to change your mind.” She spins back around and keeps walking, and Hanna sighs before following behind her.

And there, standing in the middle of a crowd of women, is Kristen Stewart, in all her shaved-head glory. She’s somehow making a white T-shirt and jeans look incredibly trendy, and she has her arm around a Victoria Secret model who Hanna saw on TV a few weeks ago.

“Kristen, hi,” Mona greets warmly. “This is Hanna.”

“Oh, hey,” Kristen says with a smile. “Yeah, Mona was telling us about you. You’ve got some rad designs, dude!”

“Totally,” Stella, her model girlfriend, agrees.

“I showed Kristen and Stella some pictures of your latest collection,” Mona continues. “They’d love to wear a Hanna Marin design on the red carpet next week.”

“Red carpet?” Hanna echoes, feeling her breath get shallow.

“Mmm hmm,” Mona confirms.

“You’re stuff’s edgy, and I dig that,” Kristen tells her. “And knowing you’re, y’know…” She nods toward Hanna and Mona’s still-clasped hands. “It’s cool. I mean, everyone here is completely discreet. But still.”

“You two are adorable,” Stella coos.

“Adorable,” Hanna repeats numbly.

“We’ll have some sketches for your team next week,” Mona announces. “For you two, Hanna will design something extra special.” She squeezes Hanna’s hand, firmly but gently.

“Yes, absolutely!” Hanna says, snapping back to attention.

“Awesome!” Kristen says. She glances around the party. “Well, I better chat with some other people. Honestly, I don’t even know who the fuck is hosting this thing. Mona has my info. We’ll talk soon.” She and Stella walk away, hand in hand, and Hanna stands there for a second, stunned.

“So?” Mona prompts. “Was it worth the ruse?”

“I could honestly kiss you right now,” Hanna tells her with a small laugh.

Mona’s eyes go wide, then she smiles, dropping Hanna’s hand. “Careful, Han. A girl could get the wrong idea with that kind of talk.”

Hanna crosses her arms, stepping in front of Mona. “And what kind of idea would that be?” She means it to sound challenging, in a friendly way, but it comes out as oddly flirtatious, her voice getting a little too low. 

For the first time in her life, Hanna sees Mona Vanderwaal go speechless.

**3**

Hanna and Caleb break up again. This time, it’s for good. Hanna could say it was New York, or Mona, or their careers. There’s lots she could blame it on, but ultimately, it just wasn’t right. Being in Rosewood together brought back all the old feelings, but being back in the real world made everything crystal clear. Hanna thought they kept coming back together because they were meant to be.

She was wrong.

She tells all her friends, and they offer to come to New York. No need, she tells them. She doesn’t really want to hash everything out again. And besides, she has Mona.

Mona invites her over, lets her drown her sorrows in booze and doesn’t ask too many questions.

“Oh, god,” Hanna sobs over her fourth shot of vodka. “I’m going to have to find a new place to live. The lease is in Caleb’s name.”

“We can get him kicked out, no problem,” Mona says dismissively. “Besides, you decorated the place. That should make it yours, automatically.”

Hanna shakes her head. “No, I don’t even want to stay there. Too many memories.”

“You’ll stay here, then,” Mona tells her, producing a tissue from her pocket and dabbing at Hanna’s eyes. “At least until you’re back on your feet. I have plenty of space, and it’ll make working together even easier."

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to,” Mona murmurs. “Let me help you, Han.”

Hanna nods, feeling more tears start to come. Grateful tears. She still feels miserable, but this offer is the best thing to happen to her all day.

A little while later the the pizza guy buzzes. Hanna goes to let him in, since Mona’s in the bathroom. The guy takes one look at Hanna and and licks his lips. “Hey, pretty mama. How you doing tonight?” he asks lecherously.

Normally Hanna would immediately tell him to fuck off. But today she just feels so broken down that she starts to well up again. She’s single, once more. Destined to spend more nights in bars with gross, awful dudes like this one.

No sooner has that thought occurred to her then an arm is sliding around her waist. Mona is there, offering her a small smile. “Pizza’s here, baby?” Mona purrs. “Maybe we should eat it in bed.”

“Right on,” the pizza guy mutters.

Mona glares at him as she pays, keeping a possessive hand on Hanna the whole time and only moving away when she has to retrieve the pizza.

“I’m sorry, I just froze,” Hanna says soggily once Mona’s closed the door.

“It doesn’t matter,” Mona replies. “He’s gone. It’s just you and me now.”

**And one time…**

Hanna’s latest collection is debuting at New York Fashion Week. The critics have been abuzz for weeks, wondering what her new designs will look like. She’s being called the female Zac Posen. She does an interview for _Vogue_ : "Hanna Marin, the Up and Comer." 

“Everything changed after Kristen Stewart wore one of my designs,” she tells the magazine. “Overnight, people knew who I was.”

The evening before the debut, Mona takes her out for a celebratory dinner at their favorite restaurant. “A toast!” she says brightly after ordering the most expensive bottle of champagne on the menu. “To Hanna Marin, New York’s hottest new fashion designer.” She winks. “In more ways than one.”

Hanna laughs, tossing her head back, and clinks glasses with Mona. She slides her hand across the table so she can take Mona's. Mona intertwines their fingers and fiddles with Hanna’s engagement ring.

“I’m so proud of you,” Mona murmurs.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Hanna says truthfully. “You changed my life.” She rolls her lips together. “In more ways than one.” Mona beams.

After dinner, Mona gets that look in her eye. The scheming look. Hanna knows by now to roll with it; usually things turn out okay. She doesn't have to think twice about trusting Mona anymore. 

“Let’s go to the venue,” Mona suggests. “Just to take a peek before everyone gets there tomorrow.”

“We won’t be able to get in,” Hanna points out, but Mona just raises an eyebrow in response.

Mona does get them in, somehow, because of course she does. The venue is completely dark and empty. Mona finds the light and leads them through to the backstage area, to the small station where some of Hanna’s designs are already on a rack, ready for the world to see them. Hanna pats them all lovingly, then follows Mona out onto the runway.

They stand there, hand in hand, taking it all in. Tomorrow this place will be flooded with people, but for now it’s just the two of them.

“Look at this,” Mona says proudly. “Look at everything you’ve done.”

“No,” Hanna corrects. “Everything _we’ve_ done. We did it together.”

Mona gazes at her, eyes warm. “Together is good,” she sighs, and Hanna captures her smile with a kiss.


End file.
